


His End

by Sindy (PlasmaBooks)



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-23 21:31:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16626773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlasmaBooks/pseuds/Sindy
Summary: Henry finds a way to break the time loop. Bendy gains a second chance.





	His End

"He was here for his beginning, but he's never seen...  _The End."_

It's the thousandth time Henry's heard these words; he vaguely remembers marking the thousandth tally back at the entrance to the studio. He can't remember his reaction to the first time hearing this, or seeing Bendy morph right into his beast form, but he knows it had to have been more fear than the dull feeling in his chest that's there now. The slap hurts, of course, as does flying through the wall, but Henry stands back up to face a maze that, now, is all too familiar, all too easy to traverse. He's quick on his feet, but luck plays the biggest part in avoiding the rampaging demon. When Henry crosses through the doors and into the room dubbed with the four ink pipes, he immediately runs and turns the cogwheel against the wall to the right of him. Bendy slinks in through the doorway, his elongated arms holding the weight of his new form as he circles around Henry. Though his eyes meet nothing but ink, Henry keeps his eyes on the beast as he backtracks to the closest ink pipe. Bendy follows routine, lashing at the glass pipe and accidentally breaking it with his claws, hissing. He hisses louder as Henry runs to the next pipe, the sound of feet on the metal, chain-link-styled flooring at the center of the room leading the blind beast to Henry again. To Bendy, it seems like an advantage, but it's all that Henry's counting on. Bendy breaks the second, third, and fourth pipe after chasing Henry around the room for a minute and a half. Henry's eyesight darkens momentarily, and Bendy is gone when Henry can see again.

Henry runs back down the hall, back into the throne room, and stops in front of the chair. He pulls the film labeled "The End" out of his pocket and prepares to place it in the projector. Bendy's screech from back down the roundabout stirs him. His eyes narrow. His hands pull away from the projector and he slowly turns around to meet the demon face to face.

"Bendy." He starts out, hoping to just grab the demon's attention. "Listen to me. Listen. This isn't real."

The demon stops approaching, but opens his mouth wide to let out an ear-shattering roar.

" _You're_ not real." Henry continues. "You aren't supposed to be here.  _I'm_  not supposed to be here. Joey made all this up! You're like this because he  _made_  you this way!"

Bendy screeches out loud, and Henry takes that as him rejecting the thought. The screech continues with Bendy stumbling a little bit, like he's suddenly at a loss of strength.

"It's a time loop, Bendy!" Henry yells. "You and I have been in this exact same room a thousand times before! It's just a loop made to keep us from being free!"

Bendy's screeches continue, as does the stumbling. Henry drops the film beside him, hearing it snap into at least two pieces. The noise grabs Bendy's attention, even over the volume of his screeches. His head dips to stare at the film, and he goes silent, if only for a minute. Now he's  _growling._ Henry can't tell if that's better or worse.

"We can break it Bendy! We can be set free!" Henry yells. His heartbeat increases as the first hint of the yellow-ish hue begins to overwhelm his vision. "You can come with me! You don't have to be here anymore!"

Bendy staggers back, shaking his head, looking like he's trying to run someplace, but can't get going. The bright light has almost overtaken Henry's vision by now. He reaches out, palm up, blindly now, desperately.

"Bendy!" He yells out, trying to grab the demon's attention. "Grab my hand! Let's be  _free_!"

He can't be sure, but he swears he feels something else clasp over his hand. He swears he catches the form of Bendy in his skeletal morph one last time, no longer a beast, before he gives in and slips off.

 

He's seen the scene so many times before that it's not even beautiful anymore. The colors aren't a fun change now. They're just sad. He knows he'll just be sent back into a colorless world anyways. 

...Or, maybe not. 

He's not expecting anything to be in his lap when he dismally slides out of the chair he's in.  But something was in his lap, and when he catches it in his arms before it can hit the floor, he can hardly believe his eyes. 

It's Bendy, in his toon form. Henry figures, even in his flabbergasted state, that the demon had been sleeping in his lap, but Bendy's awake now, and blinking up at him with confused eyes. It seems they're both not sure what to make of each other. But Henry's gaze flicks up to the entryway to the kitchen, and Bendy turns his head to look, too, like he knows that's where they have to go.

They meet eyes again, asking the silent question, wondering what they should do, fearing what will happen if they go in there. But Bendy closes his eyes and tightens his grip on Henry, because he's not ready to go but he knows they can't stand there forever.

And Henry walks. 

There's one more pause before Henry steps into the kitchen, and his eyes are screwed shut as he does so, because he doesn't want to see Joey anymore, and just hearing the man say his name will be torture enough. Seconds pass. Henry counts thirty before he opens his eyes again. 

He's met with nothing but an empty kitchen and utter silence. There's no wheelchair to the left, nor monologuing Joey Drew front and center. There's just a picture sitting on the windowsill, too faint to be seen far away, beckoning Henry closer. Bendy has taken notice of both the silence and the picture by now. They're both staring at it, and Bendy's grip tightens on Henry again as he begins to approach the windowsill above the sink. 

When Henry gets close enough, he looks at the picture. 

It's a photo of him and Joey standing in front of the studio, and Henry realizes that the photo was taken for the local newspaper just as the studio was finishing construction. He picks the frame up, staring sadly at Joey's smiling face. It was so weird to see now that everything had gone wrong. It was so weird to see now that Henry had been stuck in a loop because of that man. Everything had gotten so messed up, and now that it was finally changing, where was he? Nowhere to be found. 

Henry's thumb brushes against something on the back of the picture frame. He turns it over to reveal a small slip of paper, and pulls it out of the corner of the frame. 

" _Joey Drew and Henry Stein in front of Joey Drew Studios as it nears the end of its construction. June Twelfth, 1929."_

Something else catches his eye, something written in red ink. 

" _Dream on, friend. 1901-1962._ "

He isn't sure how to react to reading that. 

It's his handwriting, his words.

Joey... died?  _Recently?_  

"If Joey is dead... that has to mean that..." Henry mutters aloud.  His eyes widen upon the sudden realization and he quickly looks down at the demon currently latching onto his midsection. 

Bendy glances up at him, and in his eyes are swimming pools of confusion. 

It's all Henry needs to look at to know that Bendy is his own lifeform.

Even if Joey had to leave so he could be real. 

The next thing he sees in Bendy's eyes is a question of the "what now?" variety. 

Henry inhales, taking the pause, trying to think of an answer. 

It's just him and Bendy... free... in the wake of a loss they're still trying to process, but  _free._

What now? 

Henry leans his head down to press his forehead against the demon's own and the two simultaneously close their eyes, speaking a silent message.

They'll figure it out together.


End file.
